


Addressing the Earl Of Gloria and His Family

by CassieIngaben



Series: Making sense of the Eroica universe (or trying to) [1]
Category: Eroica Yori Ai o Komete | From Eroica with Love
Genre: Essays, Etiquette, Meta, Other, manners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:13:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 555
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CassieIngaben/pseuds/CassieIngaben
Summary: Meta about the appropriate form of address for a peer of the realm and his family. Or, why you shouldn't call Dorian "Earl" but "My Lord."
Series: Making sense of the Eroica universe (or trying to) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1846909
Comments: 8
Kudos: 8
Collections: From Eroica With Love - Groups Challenges





	Addressing the Earl Of Gloria and His Family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kadorienne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kadorienne/gifts).



> While I am the first to recognise that the Eroica canon is not really concerned with the reality of English peerage—or indeed with most of reality—I like to imagine a complete, coherent and (relatively) realistic background for my characters. This is why I tried to figure out the correct way of addressing a peer of the realm, rather than going with the various translations of the manga, which contain obvious errors, such as addressing Dorian as "Earl" rather than as "Milord". And I discovered that it's all very intricate and complicated. You can find here the results of my heroic cut and paste from Dr. Internet, hoping they are accurate. If you can spot any errors of imprecisions, please do let me know!
> 
> This work was originally written in 2006 and it's also posted on the excellent Belladonna's web site here [ http://belladonna.org/addressing.html ](http://belladonna.org/addressing.html) \- slightly updated and reposted here for the eroicaml.groups.io July 2020 Challenge "It's Dorian's birthday!" (Feel free to join us at [https://eroicaml.groups.io ](https://eroicaml.groups.io))

I started from the premise that Dorian's title is The Earl of Gloria, and his family name is Red, based on his pirate ancestor's name Luminous Red Benedict. I have made up names for Dorian's mother and sister, as we do not know them from canon. I also made up his father's name, Theodore (which means "Gift of God" in Greek). Since Dorian means "Gift" I thought it would be a nice touch. I continued with the Greek theme by deciding that Dorian's mother's was called Helen.

We do not know whether Dorian has a secondary title, so I have made one up as one of the possible options. But I personally prefer Dorian not to have a secondary title. Since the Earldom of Gloria is a relatively recent title, dating back to Tudor times, it's unlikely they managed to secure a secondary title (even if Prince of Thieves is a good attempt).

The fact that Dorian is the Earl **_of_** Gloria rather than Earl Gloria means that the title is tied to an actual place. It follows that there is a place called Gloria in the North Downs. Diana Williams and I have dwelt on this in a separate essay, which can be found here <https://archiveofourown.org/works/25495000> The essay includes more details on Dorian's name.

**Person**

| 

**announced formally or addressed on formal correspondence as**

| 

**salutation on formal correspondence**

| 

**announced informally or addressed on social correspondence as**

| 

**salutation on social correspondence**

| 

**addressed in speech as**

| 

**referred to in speech as**

| 

**signature on social correspondence**  
  
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---  
  
**Earl**

| 

The Right Honble. The Earl of Gloria

| 

"My Lord,"

| 

The Earl of Gloria

| 

"Dear Lord Gloria," (or, more familiarly, "Dear Gloria,")

| 

"Lord Gloria" the first time in conversation, followed by "my lord" (or, more familiarly, "Gloria").

| 

(The) Lord Gloria (or, more familiarly, "Gloria").

| 

Gloria  
  
**Earl's wife**

| 

The Right Honble. The Countess of Gloria

| 

"Madam,"

| 

The Right Honble. The Countess of Gloria

| 

"Dear Lady Gloria,"

| 

"Lady Gloria" the first time in conversation, followed by "my lady."

| 

(The) Lady Gloria (or, more familiarly, "Helen Gloria").

| 

Helen Gloria  
  
**Earl's mother**

| 

The Most Honble. The Dowager Countess of Gloria, or The Most Honble. Helen, The Countess of Gloria

| 

"Madam,"

| 

The Dowager Countess of Gloria; or Helen, The Countess of Gloria; or (archaic) Countess Dowager Gloria

| 

"Dear Lady Gloria,"

| 

"Lady Gloria" the first time in conversation, followed by "my lady."

| 

The Dowager Lady Gloria; or Helen, Lady Gloria; or (archaic) Countess Dowager Gloria (or, more familiarly, "Helen Gloria").

| 

Helen Gloria  
  
**Earl's eldest son (with the secondary title of Kelso)**

| 

The Right Honble. The Viscount Kelso

| 

"My Lord,"

| 

The Viscount Kelso

| 

"Dear Lord Kelso," (or, more familiarly, "Dear Kelso,")

| 

"Lord Kelso " the first time in conversation, followed by "my lord" (or, more familiarly, " Kelso ").

| 

(The) Lord Kelso (or, more familiarly, "Kelso").

| 

Kelso  
  
**Earl's eldest son (no secondary title)**

| 

The Right Honble. The Viscount Red

| 

"My Lord,"

| 

The Viscount Red

| 

"Dear Lord Red," (or, more familiarly, "Dear Red,")

| 

"Lord Red " the first time in conversation, followed by "my lord" (or, more familiarly, "Red ").

| 

(The) Lord Red (or, more familiarly, "Red").

| 

Red  
  
**Earl's daughter**

| 

The Lady Margaret Red

| 

"My Lady," or "Madam,"

| 

The Lady Margaret Red

| 

"Dear Lady Margaret Red," (or, more familiarly, "Dear Lady Margaret,")

| 

Lady Margaret (or Margaret, if addressed by a very close friend or relative)

| 

(The) Lady Margaret (Red)

| 

Margaret Red


End file.
